St Paul's Square, Liverpool
At our £20m St Paul’s Square project for English Cities Fund in Liverpool, Shepherd has not only delivered Merseyside’s first speculative office development with a ‘BREEAM excellent’ rating, but has also exceeded the sustainability targets set out at the start of the project.
“We wanted No 4 to be the focal point of the St Paul’s Square Scheme, and we think this has already been achieved. The building has set very high standards in terms of architecture, new-build quality and best practice in sustainable design.”
Mike Broadhead, Project Manager, English Cities Fund 
At our £20m St Paul’s Square project for English Cities Fund in Liverpool, Shepherd has not only delivered Merseyside’s first speculative office development with a ‘BREEAM excellent’ rating, but has also exceeded the sustainability targets set out at the start of the project. Targets set out in the sustainable procurement programme developed by ECF and the North West Development Agency included:
- An 18% improvement in carbon emissions over the target emission rate – this has been exceeded with a 22% improvement over target emissions set to be achieved
- Offsetting at least 40% of materials going to landfill with recycling equivalents – 100% of material is now being diverted from landfill. Through our partnership with Tarmac and the White Recycling Group, all waste that cannot be recycled is now used as biofuel on a Tarmac plant in Derbyshire.
- Local recruitment and training to support the local economy - the targets of employing a minimum of 6 trainees across varying trades have been met and in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University, a programme of guest lectures, work placements, and site tours were carried out to support curriculum learning and also provide practical on site experience throughout the varying construction phases. A series of ‘Apprentice’ style boardroom interviews were also held to assess the students’ performance.
- 15% of the water used on site coming from non-potable source – the water conservation strategy has helped to deliver a reduction to 4.31m² water used per person annually – equivalent to 78% net water from potable supplies. Water-efficient taps, low-flush toilets, leak detection and monitoring services installed all support this. The building is the first in Liverpool to have a sedum roof. Its 213m² matting absorbs rainwater, supporting the building’s insulation and helping to filter out pollutants.
In addition all materials, which have been used on the project, have been environmentally procured from responsible sources and approximately 10% of the total build will have been sourced locally.